BCDA Slams Inquirer's Irresponsible Journalism by Releasing an Official Statement

The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) released an official statement slamming the irresponsible journalism presented by Inquirer.net on their news report. The Philippine Daily Inquirer allegedly tried to mislead its readers by publishing an erroneous report about a Chinese company who has "bagged" the contract to build major project for the BCDA.

For the past few days, the social media world made the topic about spreading fake news a trending topics but instead of reporting reliable news, Inquirer allegedly posted misleading information to their readers.

BCDA clarified the issue with regards to the report posted by Inquirer stating that a Chinese company has "bagged" the contract to build the Subic Clark Railway project and the Fort Bonifacio to NAIA BRT system.

The BCDA noted that although some of the information reported by Inquirer were correct, one of the most important detail of the contract was left out by Inquirer, the contract are merely for the conduct of feasibility studies and was funded by the Chinese government not the Philippine government.

Here's the Full Statement of BCDA:

Contrary to reports published by the Philippine Daily Inquirer,
Chinese Company CCCC subsidiaries China Road and Bridge and China
Harbour Engineering have not “bagged” the PH infrastructure projects to
construct the Subic Clark Railway project and the Fort Bonifacio to NAIA
BRT system.

The Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) signed by these
two companies and the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA)
only provided for the conduct of a Feasibility Study regarding the
project and is not and was never intended to be a contract award.

“We
admire the diligence of the Philippine Daily Inquirer in finding the
World Bank document regarding CCCC and its subsidiaries. However, the
same diligence should have been exercised in simply reading the MOU that
was signed which very clearly states that the MOU is only for the
conduct of a study for the project at the cost of the Chinese company
and NOT the Philippine government. It is by no means an award of the
contract. Hence, the headline of the article is completely false and
bordering on irresponsible,” said Vince Dizon, President of BCDA.

BCDA
also assured the media and public that if and when these projects will
move forward after their feasibility has been determined, the projects
will all follow the most rigorous and stringent procedures and
requirements of Philippine government public procurement under our laws
and regulations.

“All these projects will be subject to the
strictest rules and most rigorous processes of public procurement under
Philippine law. But we are very far from that point in the process, we
are only at step 1 – the feasibility study – and to make an assertion
that the project has already been “bagged” or awarded to a company is
completely false and irresponsible”, Dizon added.

The MOU also clearly states the ff:

1.
The MOU is very limited in scope. The Philippine government has no
obligation to the Chinese company other than to let it conduct the
feasibility study at its own cost. It is not even bound to consider the
results of study. Moreover, the MOU clearly states that the Parties are
not bound to enter into further agreements with each other;

2. The
MOU is non exclusive. This means that the Philippine government can
consider other companies or groups interested in the project;

3.
The MOU provides that the cost of the feasibility study (which may range
anywhere from 1-2 million USD) is borne by the company and NOT the
Philippine government;

4. The eventual bidding of the project will be under the procurement laws, rules and regulations of the Philippines.